Who Are the Children? — Ethiopia Child Sponsorship Program
Our commitment to the impoverished in Ethiopia extends beyond hand-to-mouth survival. Read about our efforts to promote child welfare and preserve family permanence despite the harsh economic and living conditions Ethiopians face. By layering services in some communities, we are able to realize an even greater impact.
ADDIS ABABA, home to 5 million people, is one of the largest cities in Africa and a hub of African business and politics. Decades of war, famine and disease have devastated the country, resulting in an influx of agrarian families to Addis competing for relatively meager resources. The city has neither the infrastructure nor industrial base to absorb this huge economic strain. Ethiopia also suffers greatly from the impact of HIV, which has resulted in thousands of orphaned children who struggle to survive by selling tissue packets, cigarettes and other small items on the street.
SIDAMA, part of the Southern Ethiopia Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR), is a lush area benefiting from agricultural success and robust trading between neighboring countries. Nearly half the population is under 15 years of age. Only one-third of residents have access to health care, resulting in abysmally high child and maternal mortality rates. Despite the fertile soil, the agricultural infrastructure is very poor -- making large harvests obtainable to only the wealthiest. Most families farm small plots of land, growing barely enough for their basic survival. Malaria and AIDS have orphaned thousands of children, leaving them to be cared for by elderly relatives who already face a food shortage. Forced to beg or help on the family farm, few children attend school. We have expanded schools, brought in clean water and are building the Leku Hospital in Shebedino.
Also part of SNNPR, in southwestern Ethiopia, KEMBATTA is one of the most densely populated and impoverished regions in the country. Its weak infrastructure is barely able to cope with the poverty and lack of education within its communities. As a result, many children work to help support their families rather than attend school.
It is believed that TIGRAY was settled by the Queen of Sheba around 1,000 BC and by Greek merchants in 100 AD. Considered the trade capital between Africa and Asia, modern Tigray, once a lush land flowing with rivers, is at the mercy of an unpredictable climate that often produces drought conditions. The lack of clean drinking water and failed harvests have led to famine, illness, and high mortality rates.
AXUM / ADWA is an historical, culturally rich zone in Tigray. Adwa has suffered the brunt of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which has resulted in thousands of deaths in Adwa’s working population. In addition, the large number of soldiers stationed there has contributed to one of the highest rates of AIDS in the country. This combination of war, famine and disease has led to what many call Ethiopia’s “missing generation.” That is, many children have lost both parents and are being raised by their older siblings or elderly grandparents. Few government services are fully operational, with health care being one of the hardest hit. The lone hospital in Adwa, built after World War I, was constructed to serve 10,000 people. Today, its crumbling walls and obsolete equipment must serve hundreds of thousands, and the lives of countless mothers and children have been lost due to preventable diseases. We have expanded schools and recently completed the construction of a comprehensive medical clinic in Adwa designed to bring health services closer to those in desperate need.
MEKELLE is the capital city of the Tigray region. Most sponsored children in Mekelle come from families coping with the death of one or both parents due to AIDS or disabilities that force them and / or their children to beg for food and money.
